Chasing Bliss (7 page)

She smiled. “Yeah. I start Monday.”

Jayson wasn’t shy about noting Chase’s hand on her back and Corey’s helmet in her hand. He
laughed and hit Chase on the back. “Looks to me like you started already—just not for Cyrus.”

Chase smirked. “If Cyrus comes by lookin’ for me, tell him I went to Shelter.”

Jayson’s face got serious. “All right. Where you really gonna be?”

Chase smiled. “Not at Shelter.”

“Don’t worry. I got you, Chase.”

“Thanks. Bye, J.T.”

They went out to his bike, and Bliss put the helmet on her head. “He seems nice, ” she said,
tucking her hair out of her eyes.

“Yeah, he’s my best friend,” Chase said absently. “I’m gonna get on and lean my bike for you.
When you get on, put your feet here,” he said, pointing to a short bar. Chase got on and leaned.

Bliss got on behind him, trying not to give anybody a nice view of her panties. She was scared
because she’d never been on a bike before, but not as terrified as she would have been if someone else
were driving. As Chase righted the bike, Bliss slipped her hands around his waist and interlocked
her fingers to hold on tight; it wasn’t lost on her how hard and tight he was.

He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. “You okay?”

Bliss nodded. “I think so.”

“You gotta hold onto me as tight as you can, okay? Put your faceplate down and don’t let go,
all right?”

“Don’t worry, Chase. I’m not trying to let you go.”

They stared at each other for a second, smiling, and then Chase flipped his faceplate down and
they buzzed away.

******

Chase took her to a nice restaurant on the Upper West Side. It was a little crowded, but when
they walked in, the owner called Chase by name and greeted him warmly. The round booth he sat
them in was made to seat six people, but they squeezed together in the middle.

“You know the owner?” Bliss asked, fluffing her hair out with her fingers.

“It ain’t hard to know the owner if you’re in the business. Hell,
you
know
me.
” He turned in his
seat to face her, placing his arm along the back of the booth, and watched her fix her hair. “Sorry I
didn’t bring my car. Time kind of got away from me, and I didn’t go back home.”

Bliss laughed, tucked her dress under for modesty, and turned to face him. “It’s okay. Really. I
was terrified at first, but I enjoyed the ride. It was nice.”

The waiter popped over with an ice bucket that held a frosty bottle of Dom.

Chase raised his eyebrows at him.

“Mr. Mulroney wants you to enjoy this, courtesy of the house, Mr. Brown.” The waiter popped
the cork and poured the champagne. Chase scanned to room until he met the eyes of the owner and
raised his glass, took a sip, and sat it back down.

“Wow,” Bliss said, sipping her champagne. “I’m impressed.”

Chase shrugged. “It’s a nice gesture. He owes me money, and I don’t ride him about it.”

“That’s sweet of you. Are you really as nice as you seem, Chase?”

He rubbed at the scar that ran along the back of his fingers. “Depends on who you ask.”

She put her glass down, too, and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m glad you asked me to
meet you.”

“I’m glad too.” He leaned toward her and put his hand on her thigh.

Bliss was a little shocked, but his hand wasn’t unwelcome.

“I like your dress,” he said.

His eyes were mesmerizing her. They weren’t light brown, but they weren’t exactly dark brown
either. They were more like the color of dark whiskey. Between him having his hand on her thigh
like that and looking at her with his clear, beautiful eyes, Bliss was having a problem keeping her
hands off him. The scent of Chase’s cologne was also killing her; he smelled delicious. She wanted
to climb into his lap and kiss him until her lips hurt. “Thank you,” she said finally.

“Did you wear it for me?”

“Yes. Yes, I did.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

“I hoped you would, even though I
did
have second thoughts about meeting you. I mean, you
did
hire me to work for your brother Cyrus. Isn’t that supposed to be unethical or something?”

Chase laughed and raised an eyebrow. “Who cares, Bliss? Life goes by too fast to spend it
worryin’ about shit like that. Sure, you got the job, and I think you can do it, but to tell you the
truth, I don’t care if you
ever
work for Cyrus. I just want you to make sure you got time for me.”

Bliss smiled slow.
Damn! This one certainly doesn’t beat around the bush. He gives it to you straight,
with no chaser.
She found she didn’t have the willpower to debate with herself about what she
should or shouldn’t do. She didn’t want to think about what was proper and what wasn’t. She liked
him a lot. “You feeling me like that, Chase?”

He smiled. “You had me when I flipped my visor up and saw you standin’ there in that dirty
little gray skirt.”

Bliss sucked her teeth, but she smiled when she did it. “It’s your fault my skirt was dirty in the
first place.”

“All right, already! I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Bliss laughed and leaned away from him. “Okay. I’m gonna hold you to that, Chase.”

He moved right up on her and put his lips very close to her neck. “What else are you gonna hold
me to?”

Bliss put her hands on his chest and pushed him back a little. Again, how he felt beneath her
hands was not lost on her. She was certain that if Chase suddenly decided to take his shirt off, she
wouldn’t be disappointed. Bliss felt more than a little overwhelmed by him. She wanted him, and
he knew it. Bliss pushed against him a bit harder. She didn’t want to get swept up in the moment
and end up making a seriously bad judgment call. “Hey, Chase…wait a minute.”

He pulled back and looked at her patiently, with his hand still on her thigh. “What’s up?”

“You know…we just met each other, and—”

He laughed. “I didn’t
just
meet you. I met you this morning.”

The waiter appeared, trying to be discreet. “Do you need more time, Mr. Brown, or are you
ready to order?”

Chase didn’t even turn around to look at him. He was still looking at Bliss like she’d just
stepped straight down from Heaven. “Bring me the veal.”

“And you, Miss?”

Bliss couldn’t take her eyes off him. “I’ll have the same.” She wasn’t looking at the waiter,
either, but she could hear the smile in his voice.

“Very good.” He disappeared just as discreetly as he’d come.

Bliss realized with a start that her hands were still on Chase’s chest. She tried to pretend she was
smoothing the fabric of his shirt. “I’m just saying that you don’t even know me, yet you’re sitting
here all hugged up on me.”

Chase grinned at her. “So? Since you put it that way, you don’t know me either, and you’re
feelin’ me up. That’s okay, though, ‘cause I don’t mind a bit.”

Bliss took her hands off him like he was hot.

Chase laughed.

She frowned. “What’s so funny?”

“You…you’re scared of me.”

Bliss frowned harder. “I am not!”

He gave her an indulgent look. “Okay, let me rephrase that…you might not be
scared
of me, but
you’re scared of yourself
with
me.”

Bliss stared at him.

“You feel like, if you don’t rein my ass in, you’ll do something you think you might regret,
right?”

Bliss sighed; he was right. “Yeah.” She looked him in the eye. “I hope you know I’m not
sleeping with you tonight, Chase. Let’s get that straight, okay?” She expected him to fall back, but
Chase was tenacious and stayed right where he was.

“Am I makin’ you
that
uncomfortable, sittin’ here with my hand on your thigh?”

No, he wasn’t. That was the problem. He was making her
want
him. He’d already kissed her
without giving her enough time to think it through. She didn’t even know him well enough to know
his romantic background. He could very well have a wife and kids hidden somewhere—or hell,
looking as good as he did, at least a girlfriend. Bliss put her hand on his and forcibly removed it
from her thigh.

He smiled at her, and his eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Stop smiling at me like that, Chase. If we’re gonna go one step further, we need to get to know
each other. For all you know, I could have a real jealous boyfriend waiting around the corner to
shoot you in the forehead.”

Chase laughed. “I ain’t hardly worried about nobody cappin’ me, Bliss. Does this real jealous
boyfriend exist?”

“No. What about you? Any real jealous girlfriends I should know about?”

“Not until now.”

“Huh?”

“You just took me off the market.”

Oh shit!
Bliss blushed, watching his face for telltale signs of lying; she couldn’t find any. “What
about kids? Are you a daddy?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Kids were fine, but she knew
sometimes baby mamas could be deal-breaking spawns from Hell—especially if they were still
hung up on their baby daddy.

“No. Do you?”

Bliss shook her head. “Nope.”

Chase tilted his head, and his wandering hand returned; this time, it settled on her knee. His
smile was gone, and the look on his face told her he was dead serious. “Do you want some? ‘Cause
I really wouldn’t mind helpin’ you out with that.”

Bliss opened her mouth to say something, but her heart was beating so hard that she found it
difficult to catch her breath or gather her thoughts.
Damn!
Where did he come from with that shit?
“You’re messing with my…with my blood pressure or something,” Bliss mumbled.

He leaned toward her and licked his lips, and his hand reclaimed its place on her thigh. It was
the sexiest thing, but not as sexy as what he said. “For real? ‘Cause I feel like you hit me in the
head with a hammer, Bliss—right between the eyes. I know you want me to back up off you, but
it’s the
hardest thing,
‘cause, right now, all I want to do is get as close to you as I can. I want to make
sure you’re real.”